2008 IWS All-Stars

I like to imagine that I was a little bit more informed as a child growing up in a home with a sports crazed father. We’re talking about a man that will sit back and watch re-runs of a Cardinals game to see if he can pick up on a managerial error, or a trend that will eventually lead to their always impending demise. At night when it came time for my nightly story, he’d reach for Frank Deford over Dr. Suess, I’m told I preferred it this way, chances are I didn’t have a choice. Because of this upbringing I feel like I respected the game more than others. When it came time to fill out the All-Star ballot each summer, I immediately went to the box scores. I wasn’t going to vote for Jose Canseco and Barry Bonds just because they were the most popular players, if someone was playing better than them, they got my punch.

Because of this, nothing burns me up more than seeing someone on the field or court that doesn’t deserve to be there. It just shows a complete disrespect for the game, you’d think that a fan that cares enough about a sport to cast a ballot would also know enough not to vote for someone that has been sidelined all year, but that’s exactly what happened when Ken Griffey Jr. was named to the team in 1995 after playing in only 27 games the first half of the season while hitting an abysmal .263. All this shows is that kids- or maybe even adults- are voting strictly off of name recognition. Do we really want to leave home field advantage in the hands of a group of people that don’t even know who the best players are?

If this thing is going to be a popularity contest, then I say no. I can understand why a fan would want to see a Griffey Jr. or a Cal Ripken Jr. play in the All-Star game during their final years, but personally I would rather see a cast of current stars, not the ones of yesterday. There are old-timers games that serve the purpose of showcasing players past their prime, save the sentimental stuff for the proper venue, not one that grants a huge advantage towards capturing the World Series.

Even if no one else takes this seriously, I do. Too seriously? Absolutely, but I feel it’s my responsibility as a fan. Up until this year, I had never voted for anything besides an All-Star game. Then Barrack Obama came along and that all changed as I went to vote on my first real adult matter as a 23 year old-man during the primaries. I just liked Obama, I didn’t look into him that much, my research consisted of watching a couple You Tube clips, it was nothing close to my All-Star selection process.

After several hours knee deep in the Baseball Reference database scouring through statistics, I finally filled out my ballot today. Without further ado, here are my picks for the 2008 Major League Baseball All-Star Game.

AMERICAN LEAGUE ALL-STARS

Catcher: Joe Mauer, Minnesota Twins
The American League has basically been devoid of talent at this position thus far, so picking Mauer was a relatively easy decision considering that he is hitting .324/.408/.431 right now. He is, however, lacking in the power categories with only 2 homers.
Reserves: AJ Pierzynski, Chicago White Sox, Gerald Laird, Texas Rangers

First Base: Justin Morneau, Minnesota
This was one of the harder decisions I had to make for this ballot because there is no clear cut winner right now. Over the last month there hasn’t been a better first baseman in the game than Jason Giambi, but after hitting well below the Mendoza line during the first month of the season his average currently sits at .262. Due to this, I couldn’t justify punching the hole next to his name, so I instead went with consistency and chose Morneau. Kevin Youkilis could also get the nod here, his numbers are almost identical to Morneau’s, but he has more protection in Boston.
Reserves: Jason Giambi, New York, Kevin Youkilis, Boston

Second Base: Ian Kinsler, Texas
His defense may require him to change positions someday, but like Manny Ramirez, Kinsler’s stick offsets any liabilities that are created with his glove. Kinsler is quickly blossoming into one the games top offensive threats, as he currently leads the league in runs and hits, is second in total bases, and currently has 10 homers, 42 RBI, and 17 steals.
Reserve: Brian Roberts, Baltimore

Shortstop: Michael Young, Texas
It’s not Derek Jeter’s fault that he’s possibly the most recognizable figure in the game, but even he knows that he doesn’t deserve to get the start this year, but MLB will never allow that to happen, not when the game is in Yankee stadium. Either way, we already know that no matter what, he’s always going to be there, sort of like how Grant Hill was voted on the starting roster of the 2000-01 NBA All-Star team even though he only played in four games that season. Ok, so maybe that example is a little extreme, but the numbers tell it all. Jeter is hitting .273/.329/.379 with four homers and 30 RBI, while Young is hitting .290/.348/.420 with six homers and 33 RBI, and is currently second in the league in runs with 51, and sixth in hits with 82.
Reserve: Derek Jeter, New York

Third base: Alex Rodriguez, New York
I wanted to give this one to Joe Crede so badly, but I couldn’t bring myself to do it. Rodriguez has appeared in 15 less games and he’s already hit 12 homers and drove in 37 runs to Crede’s 14 and 41. Crede gets points for coming back like he has, no one expected him to be able to thwart off Josh Fields for long after being sidelined for all but 47 games last season with back injuries. But, along with his power figures, Rodriguez currently ranks sixth in average (.326), fifth in OBP (.411) and second in slugging (.602). You can’t deny those figures.
Reserve: Joe Crede, Chicago

Outfield: Josh Hamilton, Texas, Milton Bradley, Texas, Carlos Quentin, Chicago
Despite ranking third in homers with 16, and second in RBI with 54, Quentin’s name is mysteriously missing from the All-Star ballot. The league has issued an apology, stating that the ballot’s go to print during spring training, which makes sense, but what about the online ballot? I’m guessing that at least more than half of the votes are recorded online, so why don’t they just add his name there? Because of this he will likely have to be saved by the coaches. Milton Bradley’s name, however, does appear, but he will likely suffer the same fate despite leading the league in hitting, on-base percentage, and slugging. Hamilton should have no problem getting in the starting line-up. He’s the best story in baseball, and it doesn’t hurt that he also leads the league in hits, RBI, homers, and is seventh in hitting.
Reserves: BJ Upton, Tampa Bay, Grady Sizemore, Cleveland, Manny Ramirez, Boston, Magglio Ordonez, Detroit, Jacoby Ellsbury, Boston, JD Drew, Boston

Starters: Cliff Lee, Cleveland, Roy Halladay, Toronto, Shaun Marcum, Toronto, Scott Kazmir, Tampa Bay, Ervin Santana, Los Angeles, Justin Duchscherer, Oakland, Joe Saunders, Los Angeles, John Lackey, Los Angeles

Relief: Mariano Rivera, New York, Jon Papelbon, Boston, Joakim Soria, Kansas City, Francisco Rodriguez, Los Angeles, Troy Percival, Tampa Bay

National League All-Stars

Catcher: Brian McCann, Atlanta
His homers give him the edge over Russell Martin (12 to 6), but Geovany Soto could close the gap and own this position for years to come.
Reserves: Russell Martin, Los Angeles, Geovany Soto, Chicago

First base: Lance Berkman, Houston
.360/.445/.704, 19 homers, 57 RBI, 11 SB, 37 walks, 38 SO, 23 doubles, 3 triples, 63 Runs, 90 hits, 176 total bases. He currently ranks first in slugging, OPS, runs, total bases, doubles, and extra base hits, second in average and homeruns, third in OBP and hits, and fourth in RBI. Should I go on? Or can I just stop there?
Reserves: Albert Pujols, Saint Louis and Adrian Gonzalez, San Diego

Second base: Chase Utley, Philadelphia
Utley has redefined his position, becoming the first second baseman to hit 20 homers before the end of May. At the rate he’s going the Phillies could keep the MVP in Philadelphia for the third straight year.
Reserve: Dan Uggla, Florida

Shortstop: Hanley Ramirez, Florida
He struggled through some injuries in May, hitting .260/.365/.354 with a single homerun and only five RBI for the month, but his overall totals of .288/.377/.513 with 15 homers and 32 RBI still qualify him as the best shortstop in the NL.
Reserves: Christian Guzman, Washington, Miguel Tejada, Houston

Third base: Chipper Jones, Atlanta
He’s hitting .402. His current .342 average for the month of June has him in danger of dropping below the Williams line for the first time, but .400 or not, the guy is the best hitter in the league right now.
Reserves: Aramis Ramirez, Chicago, David Wright, New York, , Jorge Cantu, Florida

Outfield: Ryan Ludwick, Saint Louis, Ryan Braun, Milwaukee, Nate McLouth, Pittsburgh
Ludwick has made the improbable transformation from minor league journeyman to All-Star, overcoming a barrage of injuries that nearly pushed him out of the game, seemingly overnight. I expected the absence of Albert Pujols to negatively affect his performance, and it still might, but Ludwick has rose to the occasion, hitting two homers and driving in eight runs in the six games since Pujols landed on the DL. Ryan Braun has continued to build upon his torrid pace of last season by hitting 18 homers and driving in 52 runs thus far, pushing the ever looming sophomore slump aside for the time being. Who ever saw Nate McLouth coming? I read a lot of reports about how he was going to break out this season, but I never expected it to be to the tune of a .296/.385/.567 line with 15 homers and 47 RBI.
Reserves: Pat Burrell, Philadelphia, Xavier Nady, Pittsburgh, Jason Bay, Pittsburgh, Carlos Lee, Houston, Corey Hart, Milwaukee (Alfonso Soriano would have been a starter if he weren’t injured).

Starters: Edinson Volquezu, Cincinnati, Tim Lincecum, San Francisco, Brandon Webb, Arizona, Ryan Dempster, Chicago, Ben Sheets, Milwaukee, Johan Santana, New York, Jake Peavy, San Diego, Carlos Zambrano, Chicago

Relief: Carlos Marmol, Chicago, Brad Lidge, Philadelphia, Billy Wagner, New York, Brandon Lyon, Arizona, Kerry Wood, Chicago, Taylor Buchholz, Colorado